The Ballad Of Hermione Granger
by Radically-Red
Summary: Based on 'the Ballad of Charlote Dymond' I now present to you 'The Ballad Of Hermione Granger'
1. Verse 1

Hey! Welcome to my new fic. This is based on _'The Ballad Of Charlotte Dymond.' _by _'Charles Causley.'_ The words are changed to fit this fic. This is slightly AU and in my world, the golden trio are older; like in their twenties, Harry and Ron are aurors, the death penalty has come back and if there's anything else, I'll post it in my author notes. At the end of this fic, I'll post the real poem and my version.

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or this fantastic poem.

Well, here goes.

**The Ballad Of Hermione Granger**

_verse 1;_

_It was a Sunday evening,_

_and in the April rain,_

_that Hermione went from our house,_

_and never came home again._

**Ding dong** sang the doorbell.

'I'll get it!' shouted Hermione.

It was a Sunday evening. The television was turned off. The only sound was the soft _pitter patter_ of the fine rain that beat the window, the soup on the stove bubbling, and the kettle's slight whistling.

When she saw who it was Hermione called out to her mother; 'Mum! I'm going out for a bit.'

'Okay,' her mother called back. 'be home by half seven, that's when dinner will be ready!'

As Jane Granger heard her daughter's affermitive reply and the door slam shut, the kettle she was boiling, hissed. Jane took the kettle off the stove and made herself a cup of tea. However, what she didn't know was that Hermione wouldn't come home that night. Or any other night. Hermione wouldn't come home ever.


	2. Verse 2

**The Ballad Of Hermione Granger**

_verse 2;_

_Her shawl of diamond redcloth,_

_she wore a yellow gown,_

_she carried a green gauze handkercheif,_

_she bought in Hogsmeade town._

A few days later, an appeal was made on the television for Hermione to come back home.

In the wizarding world, posters were hung up and leaflets were handed out.

In the all the newspapers, including the Daily Prophet, a detailed sketch was made from the descreption Jane Granger had given to the papers. The sketch showed Hermione wearing a yellow dress, with a red pashmina, being worn like a scarf. A picture was released of Hermione's blue satchel bag, and a list of it's contents, including a green handkercheif, Harry had bought her.

Police were looking for her at day, and aurors, including Harry and Ron, at night. In both the muggle and wizarding worlds, people were searching for the much loved ex. student of Hogwarts.

But what they didn't expect, was what _had_ happened to her.


	3. Verse 3

**The Ballad Of Hermione Granger**

_verse 3;_

_About her throat her necklace,_

_and in her purse her pay:_

_the four silver galleons,_

_she had at lady day._

When the pictures and the descreptions didn't work, the police force turned to what acessories she was wearing.

'A necklace; a pearl necklace I bought her for her birthday.' Said Jane Granger to the muggle world. 'She never took it off.'

To the wizarding world she said; 'She had got paid four galleons that week. It was her weekly pay for her job at the Hog's Head. It was her pride.'

Both worlds revelled at this new infomation. And so the search continued...


	4. Verse 4

**The Ballad Of Hermione Granger**

_verse 4;_

_In her purse four galleons,_

_and in her purse her pride,_

_as she walked out one evening,_

_her lover at her side._

As the search continued, many more papers and newstations picked up on the story. And soon more and more questions would be asked.

'Where was Hermione on the night she dissapeared?' one reporter asked.

'She was having a walk.' Replied her mother.

'Who was she with?' Another reporter asked.

'I'm not quite sure. I think it was her boyfriend. The doorbell went and Hermione awnsered it. She said she'd be going out for a bit. I thought nothing of it and said be back by dinner time.' Said her mother.

And then the search veered in a different direction. Not for Hermione, but for her unknown boyfriend.


	5. Verse 5

**The Ballad Of Hermione Granger**

_verse 5;_

_Out beyond the marshes,_

_where the cattle stood,_

_with her crippled lover,_

_limping at her side._

The search continued for the unknown boyfriend.

The police now, had searched the area, and were now working on the several paths Hermione and her 'friend' could've taken.

It was narrowed down to the resivoirs and the by the marshes.

The aurors were one step ahead, they knew the path Hermione and her 'friend' had taken, and were now searching the area.

It was now only a matter of time 'till one of the two groups found her...


	6. Verse 6

**The Ballad Of Hermione Granger**

_verse 6;_

_Hermione walked with Draco,_

_through the sunday mist,_

_never saw the razor,_

_waiting at his wrist._

Draco Malfoy had stepped forward as the mysterious boyfriend of Hermione Granger. No-one knew he was in a relationship with Hermione. Harry and Ron were puzzled. At Hogwarts they had hated each other and called each other 'Mudblood' and 'Ferret-Boy.'

'What took you so long?' asked a reporter.

Draco's excuse?; 'I was away on buisness. The Maldives.'

When Draco told his story he moulded his words to fit the peices he'd already been told.

'I walked Hermione to her front door. But now I think about it, she never went _in_ her house. I went home after that. Then went to sleep. I had to catch my flight you see. I wanted to say I couldn't see her the next week, when I was in the Maldives.'

The race was now on to find Hermione.


	7. Verse 7

**The Ballad Of Hermione Granger**

_verse 7;_

_Hermione, she was gentle,_

_but they found her in the flood,_

_her Sunday beads among the reeds,_

_beaming with her blood._

Hermione Granger was found. Just not the way people wanted her to be.

The police force had given up trying to figure what path the couple had taken when Draco had shown up. He said they went by the marshes. And that's just where she was found, among the reeds.

Hermione was wearing exactly what she had on when she was last seen - minus her necklace. Because that necklace was broken and the bloody pearls were scattered around her body, like the planets around the sun, worshipping her.

The question on people's lips, now, was '_Who killed Hermione Granger?'_


	8. Verse 8

All inspiration from this chapter, the quote 'Time to close my mind and lock up the key,', and the whole counting to stay focused thing is from Malorie Blackman's '_Knife Edge'_ apart from the passage starting from _'Draco's method of...' _ to the interveiw ending, that's a mixture of Malorie Blackman's and my own work. _Knife Edge _is a wicked read, but if you are going to read it may I suggest reading the first book, _Noughts and Crosses_, first, then _Knife Edge_ and then, maybe, _Checkmate_, the final installment. Maybe even _An Eye For An Eye,_ which was written for world book day (2003 I think) and comes in between _Noughts and Crosses_ and _Knife Edge._

**The Ballad Of Hermione Granger**

_verse 8;_

_Draco, where is Hermione?_

_and wherefore has she flown?_

_for you go out together,_

_and now you come alone._

Draco, was now, the main suspect.

He had been interviewed by the police, twice. He was in the waiting room, about to be interviewed a third time.

Draco's method of staying focused during interviews was forward for four counts, back for four counts. Nice and simple. Focus on counting. He'd awnser each question on the first count to give himself time to think. It was something his father had taught him. His father was a crook, a con-artist, a 'buisness man'. On the many times Lucius had been interveiwed, he had used the same method.

'Draco Malfoy.' a female with a soft spoken scottish accent stuck her head round the door.

Draco smiled at her and she blushed and turned away. Draco smirked. _She obiously remembers the other night, then.'_ he thought smugly.

Draco followed her through the frame, down the hall, and into a room marked _'interveiws: room 1'._

_'Time to close my mind and lock up the key.' _Draco thought grimly.

'Take a seat,' the female officer, Dective McFaren, said.

Draco nodded to the other officer, Dective Sweeney, and sat down.

The room was an oatmeal colour and the walls were bare. No posters, no pictures, no nothing. The only furniture was a table, drilled to the floor, no doubt, two seats on one side of the table and a single chair on the opposite.

_**Click**_ McFaren clicked a button on a tape recorder and said clearly into it;

'Interveiw begun: 15:25. Persons present: interveiwer, McFaren, witness, Sweeney, interveiwed, Malfoy.'

'Is your name Draco Alexender Malfoy?' she asked.

Two, three, four, one.

'Yes.' said Draco.

'Do you wish to have a solicitor present?'

One.

'No.'

'The suspect was offered a solicitor and declined.' Said McFaren into the microphone.

The questions were coming faster now.

'How long have you known Hermione Granger?'

No reply.

'How long have you been in an intimate relationship with Hermione Granger?'

No reply.

'If it wasn't you, who was the last person to see Hermione Granger alive?'

No reply.

The questions were coming quicker and quicker, but still Draco didn't awnser. After confirming his name and rejecting the offer of a solicitor, he hadn't said a thing. Something else his father's training had taught him.

For an hour they sat there, Draco and Sweeney in silence and McFaren firing questions Draco refused to awnser.

McFaren sighed, 'Interveiw terminated at 16:30.'

They all stood up and Draco went out the door. McFaren and Sweeney shared a glcnce. This was the exact same thing that had in the other two interveiws.


	9. Verse 9

**The Ballad Of Hermione Granger**

_verse 9;_

_Why do you not awnser,_

_stand silent as a tree,_

_your Sunday worsted trousers,_

_all muddy to the knee._


End file.
